The Regional Economics Applications Laboratory (REAL)
Seminar Series
Friday, February 12, 2021
9:00-10:00 a.m. CST
ZOOM Link
Philip McCann
Ph.D., Professor at Sheffield University Management School, United Kingdom
p.mccann@sheffield.ac.uk
"Capital Shocks, Real Estate Risks and the Effects of the Global Financial Crisis in US Cities"
This paper exploits a uniquely-detailed dataset of real estate transactions to examine how the features of US cities related to investment pricing and risk. Our analysis identifies how parts of the urban system were differently affected by the global financial crisis and provides a powerful explanation of why US economic growth suddenly went from spatial convergence to divergence. Reconciling the insights of Mills, Wheaton and Zipf, we demonstate that in 'normal' times real estate investment markets price in the differences between places, whereas in a context of financial shocks, the features of a locality become important in determining capital allocations. In particular, large city centers become an extension of the bond market, increasing local capital availability and improving capital pricing terms, whereas the capital markets move against smaller and less prosperous cities.
and
Color Chasco
Ph.D., Professor at Applied Economics Department, Universidad Autonoma de Madrid, Spain
coro.chasco@uam.es
"Probit Models for Grouped-Data Migration Flows: A Theoretical Note"
In this theoretical note, we propose the GProbit model as an alternative to gravity models to estimate grouped-data flows. This is a model based on the random utility theory, which is consistent with the principle of population behavior. Instead of migrant counts, the dependent variable of the GProbit model of flows consists of a number of observed proportions. It allows explaining the propensity to migrate from any origin to a destination, which is an interesting relative concept not affected by the size effect. For this reason, it is expected to have better fit and less problems of non-normality, as illustrated by an applicaiton for the internal migration flows of the Spanish regions.
